I'm not saying drop robbie. elliott's out at the moment anyway. but he's a decent player who gives us another option. and if robbie doesn't pull up his socks whilst playing for US, not tottenham, then he should be made aware of the fact that he isn't undroppable, or that he can be subbed if he's not giving us anything. although kerr always started robbie; he let him know that he could be taken off, something which staunton has yet to do.
Ya Kerr did that at probably the worst possible time when we were trying to rescue a World Cup spot in the last 20 minutes of the Switzerland match. If I recall that was the only time Kerr did that when behind or level in a competitive match.Originally Posted by jmurphyc
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
0-0 away to Albania in 2003 - http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=407207
although this was the game after Robbie's father's funeral. Can't recall any other time though
He also took him off with 3 minutes to go in Cyprus and a fair few friendlies. I actually thought it was way more than that. But clearly, we need a manager who isn't afraid to substitute him when he isn't playing well.
I would recommend that you turn down the sound first
Robbie's first
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Blj3yCMPc#
Robbie's second
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS5D6aUi-hM&NR#
ah now i know why people still want kerr to be manager.....0-0 away to Albania in 2003
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
Keane seems to make a huge difference when he plays for Spurs. He's actually a real leader for them.
He's motivated by the competition available at Tottenham. It's not as if the same level exists when playing for Ireland. There's no incentive other than playing for his country and it would sometimes seem, to me at least, that that is not enough for him. In short, he often coasts when playing in green.
PP
Last edited by Plastic Paddy; 09/03/2007 at 6:49 PM.
Semper in faecibus sole profundum variat
Morrison has hit some form too... I think he has a bit of an unfair rep amongst some of our supporters.
Morrison works his socks off and will probably make hthe squad again.
"No regrets, none at all. My only regret is that we went out on penalties. That's my only regret. But no, no regrets." -Mick McCarthy
6 goals in 4 premiership games in April aswell as a goal against Seville in the UEFA cup. Has to be a contender for premiership player of the month.
His first touch and turn for the gioal was superb.
Very good goals by Robbie, but as said above his club form is very streaky and it never coincides with when Ireland have games!
was looking on soccernet... robbie and dimitar now have an equal number of premiership goals (10) and an equal number in all competitions (21) despite robbie having a lot less playing time and fewer shots: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/team/sq...view=1&cc=5739
Article below from last week's London Evening Standard i.e. before Robbie's two goals v Boro. I don't see enough of ROI to express a strong opinion, but I can't help feeling that the "failings" attributed to him (doesn't care, not a leader etc) are much more of a reflection on Staunton than they are on the player himself, since simultaneously to his struggling for ROI, Robbie is playing the best football of his career under Jol:
Untouchable Keane is Jol's main man
27.04.07
Martin Jol has admitted Robbie Keane has become one of his untouchables since the Spurs striker proved his leadership qualities on and off the pitch this season.
Keane has consistently been picked ahead of Jermain Defoe in recent weeks and started in most of the club's big games in the FA Cup, Carling Cup and UEFA Cup.
The Irish international has had to captain the side for much of the campaign due to Ledley King's long lay-off through injury and Jol believes the extra responsibility has given an edge to his game.
Keane has scored 12 goals in his last 12 games and Jol said: "Robbie has been captain for most of the season with Ledley not being there and he has been a big influence in the dressing room.
"In the past I had to make a choice between him and Defoe, but now he is a big personality and it is difficult to leave him out.
"I feel he has changed and takes on a lot more responsibility. He has got more influence and talks to the other players.
"He has scored 19 goals, but I feel there is more to come from him. If you take into consideration that he was out for two months with injury he could have scored 25-26."
I think people get frustrated by Robbie because he moans too much to referees, throws his hands in the air and seems to lose focus as a result - hence the "lacking leadership" criticisms.
Despite a good goalscoring record he's not clinical, his late miss against the Czechs being a good example. However his workrate & willingness to seek the ball is beyond doubt to most people (but not all as evidenced by criticism by some of his Czech performance), probably to the detriment of his goals for record.
I think a key difference between his club performances and his Ireland performances is that at Spurs he plays in a well balanced fully functional team, for Ireland he has to try and make up for the failings of our central midfield.
He hit a similar purple patch this time last year too for Spurs & it just shows what a good player he is.
Spot on. I'd say if himself and Doyle had a decent, balanced midfield we could see a potentially great partnership forming there...
"Well I think they'll be a little disappointed with that" - Matt Holland on TV3 after 5-2 drubbing by Cyprus
But isn't it up to the manager to spot these things and put them right? If another manager can see this - if even the supporters can! - surely Staunton should be addressing this as a matter of urgency, since Keane is clearly one of his top two or three players?
And if he can't/won't, is it any wonder if the players then begin to lose their respect, followed by their motivation? I know I keep banging on about this, but after a bright scoring start to his NI career, even David Healy got ground down playing for Sammy McIlroy, including playing in every minute of the famous 12 match scoreless run which saw McIlroy resign.
Sanchez takes over, realises that the team's overwhelming priority is to start scoring, that DH is the obvious candidate to do this, and builds the team round him. Result: Healy scores 21 goals in 27 internationals, including 9 in his last 6 European Qualifiers.
Of course, these things are easier said than done - otherwise we'd all be top managers! But having said that, there's no magical secret to it, either. Martin Jol had two similar strikers, of similar ability, in Keane and Defoe. He tried them separately with different partners, he tried them together, he tried simply rotating them game about, he tried selcting one to start, with the other coming on as sub (and v.v.).
In the end he decided Keane, playing alongside a big guy (ideally Berbatov), was the best combination to suit both player and team. Staunton (imo) needs to determine the same for Keane and pick the players round him who will bring the best out of him, since a fully-functioning Keane will also bring out the best in the other players in return.
It is up to the manager-thats why we're fecked.
I
To be fair to Staunton he can't go out and buy players just because the ones he has aren't up to it. Also, at international level there is far less room for tinkering around with players and systems as there are far fewer games so the margin for error is much smaller.
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